the afterlife • luke patterson

unbelievable

i let out a frustrated sigh, leaning my head against the bottom of my locker. i had a speech competition in only three short days, and my dramatic interpretation was nowhere near where it needed to be.

"something wrong, jo?" i heard my friend, julie, ask from somewhere outside of my locker.

i sluggishly lifted my head up, for nothing else than for her to see my misery,"tell me why my director basically pimped me out to the debate coach?"

julie chuckled, shaking her head playfully at me,"because we haven't won a speech comp in years. plus, it wasn't just you, if i remember correctly."

i nodded, shutting my locker and starting to walk away with her,"yeah, she also got garette and adam."

"garette, huh?" julie nudged me suggestively, shooting a wink my way, "oh, and adam? you must be pretty happy."

a blush crept into my face, but i quickly tried to hide it with a change of subjects, "look, it's my first competition and the guys are a doing a duo interpretation, so they get to be with each other on stage. i'm gonna be all by myself and i need to be perfect. but my mom says competitions were formed in the patriarchy to pit people against each other and divide the human race, so-"

"say no more," julie held her hand up, understanding my predicament, "you can practice in my mom's studio tonight."

julie knew how...in tune with the universe my mom could be. she was the classic hippie parent stereotype, with the sage and the aura colors. i liked having a parent with an unconventional mind, until it came to my academics.

i guess if i was truly reflecting on myself, my mom's spirituality is probably what drove me to identifying as a 'woman of science'. i had been completely into the tarot cards and toe sandals, until she tried to cure my strep throat with positive affirmations.

it was then i decided that there might be some validity in science.

while i knew that was the exact answer i wanted from julie, i faltered as i realized this might be hard for her, "are you sure you don't mind?"

she sucked in a breath, nodding her head, "it's fine, mom would want you to use it. she really liked you."

"i really liked her." i replied, coming to a stop at flynn's locker.

flynn was julie's best friend, but we were all pretty close. plus, we ate lunch together, and we needed to head to the cafeteria.

flynn turned to us, wasting no time in semantics, "i know you don't want me to ask you this, but have you figured out what you're gonna do today?"

ever since julie's mom died, she hasn't been able to find her voice. she hasn't sung or played in almost a year, and today was her last chance. she had music class after lunch, and if she choked, she'd be taken out of the music program at our high school.

it was a big deal that she pulled this off today.

even if she didn't seem to think so, "i'll know in the moment." she told us, causing flynn and i to share a look of exhaustion.

"really, jules?" flynn rolled her eyes, beginning to scold our friend, "that's all you're giving me? mrs. harrison said this is your last chance."

"i know," julie nodded, "i was there."

"i wasn't, and even i know you need to start doing some vocal warmups." i chimed in, sending a small jab towards the girl.

while they took seats in the music program, i had my spot in the drama program. it involved all things theatre: acting, tech, musical theatre, dance, etc. which meant, i didn't have a lot of classes i could share with the two of them.